Sunday School Students Educated on Recycling and Reusing Waste

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – PAWS Ministry of Church of the Nativity received a donation of more than 1,000 wiggly creatures Sunday morning. The donation also included composting bins, all from the Mesa County Solid Waste Management Division.

Barrett Jensen, Director of the Mesa County Landfill, says the red wigglers break down food waste and turn it into compost, which can be used for your garden or your potting mixes. The primary reason for bringing the red wigglers in to the church is to educate the kids, and teach them the importance of cutting down on the amount of waste going into the Mesa County Landfill.

The idea is also growing on these school students, who say the demonstration sparked their interest while also learning the benefits of those compost creators.

“It’s going to be up to them to figure it out, so getting them involved in the process, getting their hands dirty, and understanding whats happening is going to set them up for success in the future, and that’s all that we are trying to do,” said Jensen.

“We can do a lot more with worms and just other stuff that we wouldn’t think that we could do, with stuff like that,” said Church of the Nativity Sunday school student Jonathan Azbell.

“Hopefully that makes them curious about creation, and wanting to know more about how can we be more environmentally responsible, asking what can we as individuals do?,” said Church of the Nativity Reverend Teri Shector.

Jensen says this is part of their education outreach to get the community and the kids involved in waste diversion and composting, and although the bins are pricey and the budget for them is limited, the landfill does plan to introduce the lectures to more students at elementary and middle schools in the near future.